


We Don't Need Our Heads

by AlynRae (orphan_account)



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Casino AU, F/F, It's pretty fluffy, although Waverly probably thinks Nicole's an angel, entirely human, the curse doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 15:38:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7273897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/AlynRae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Waverly Earp is horrible at poker and doesn't mind because she's more interested in the gorgeous security guard anyway.<br/>(Or: The one where Nicole smiles a lot and Waverly blushes all the time.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Don't Need Our Heads

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I'd give fanfiction another shot because I just love these two so much.
> 
> _we don't need our heads -- a great big pile of leaves_

# We Don't Need Our Heads

It didn't happen often that the Earps went out to do something fun, or at least that's how it always felt to Waverly. When they did, it usually meant that they went to Shorty's to have a drink, or two, or twelve, but that was about it. Everything else was kind of special. Going out to the Purgatory Royal Casino was _definitely_ special. And nobody was as excited about it as Waverly Earp. 

Sitting in the back of Dolls' car between Willa and Doc, it was almost impossible for her to hold still at all. Willa kept rolling her eyes, but Waverly was too excited to care. They were all dressed in such beautiful clothes. There was an amazing song on the radio. The sun had just set. It was perfect.

“It looks so cool”, Waverly exclaimed, leaning over Doc to look out the window when they turned into the casino parking lot and the casino building showed up in their field of view. Doc grunted and let her have her way, a small smile curling beneath his mustache. There was no reason in particular for Waverly's excitement, only maybe that this was one of the few times they hung out, all of them together. They were usually too busy or found some other reason why they couldn't make it. Wynonna and Dolls were always working, for instance. (Though Waverly often thought that 'working' was maybe the wrong word for it, but she didn't want to picture what else they might be doing, so _working_ it was.)

The cold air that filled her lungs once she climbed out of the car made Waverly calm down a little. Willa kept eying her sceptically. She probably assumed her younger sister had helped herself to some drinks before they'd gotten in the car. She wasn't the excitable type herself, so her sister's enthusiasm seemed strange to her. She had also just come back from boarding school so she was just getting used to being part of the family again and smiles didn't come easy to her anyway. Boarding school had been something different, something she didn't want to talk about. Her sisters understood, sure, but it left the communication a little uneasy most of the time, especially with Waverly, who had been so young when Willa had been sent away. 

“You guys comin'?” Waverly, who had started to walk ahead, shouted back at the group. The buzz was still clearly audible in her voice, though much fainter than before. Wynonna gently took Dolls' hand in hers and pulled him in the direction of the huge revolving door above which a bunch of colourful lights spelled the word _Casino_ , as if anybody could mistake the building for anything but that. 

They were welcomed by calm piano music and a guy in a dark-green suit looking at them from behind a counter. As it turned out, he wasn't too excited about his job and the instructions he gave them sounded more like a well-rehearsed, boring monologue than part of a conversation. He quickly checked their IDs (and Waverly got the impression he didn't really care whether or not they were real or not). For a moment, she found herself wondering what would happen if an underage person went into the casino, but then again they were in Purgatory, so everything or nothing could happen. 

The casino was more than Waverly could ever have imagined. A classic rock song sounded from the speakers on the walls, people gathered around the many tables and just as they entered, a group of middle-aged men burst into cheers as one of them apparently won a large amount of money at the roulette table. A sign pointed towards the casino restaurant, a bar was located at the other end of the room. The atmosphere was cheery, infected by the thrill of gambling and the wonder of booze. 

After not even half a minute of trading in money for game chips and Waverly marveling at the beauty of the place, Wynonna and Dolls excused themselves, heading in the direction of the black jack tables, Wynonna assuring her boyfriend that she had _'mad skills'_ at the game, to which he only smiled, knowing how useless arguing with her was. 

Doc disappeared not much later. Waverly spotted his hat at the bar after a while, but he seemed to have found the company of a pretty brunette and Waverly decided it was better not to intrude. She didn't mind all of them running off, in a way she'd assumed that would happen. It always happened. At least Waverly still had Willa (who, in that exact moment, decided to spin around and sit at a slot machine without as much as looking at her sister).

So much for that.

Now it was much harder to not let the situation kill her buzz completely. The casino was still blowing her mind, but Waverly didn't know where to start or what to do. She had a small basket with chips and coins in her hand, just enough to experience it all without wasting her entire paycheck in one evening. Feeling a little lost, she shook her hand but slightly, causing the coins to jingle, in the silly hope that she'd know what to do after. 

Needless to say, she didn't.

She heard the song change twice in the time she just stood there, scanning the room helplessly. It stung a little at how little the others cared what she was doing. She was used to Willa always liking Wynonna best, that's how it had always been. They were closer in age, it was natural they had a stronger connection. But that all of them ditched her like that? _Not cool_. This was her first time at a casino, she just wanted to have fun. She just wanted to-

A gentle tap on her shoulder let her spin around, dropping the basket containing her coins. She had been so lost in thought, she hadn't been actively listening at all and the carpet had swallowed the rest of the sounds of approaching steps, leaving her completely unprepared. 

“Oh no,” were the first words the person spoke, immediately copying Waverly who had crouched down to gather all the coins and chips again. 

“I'm so sorry. Here, let me help you.” 

Waverly smiled thankfully, blushing because of her clumsiness. That stuff always happened to her, it wasn't fair. Wynonna never made a fool of herself like that. No wonder Willa liked her better. 

With combined efforts, they put all the casino money equivalent back in the basket. Only then, Waverly dared look the other person in the face. She didn't expect to be greeted by a smile, and damn, she didn't expect the face she was looking at to be so pretty. She stopped in mid-motion, dumbstruck, her mouth half open. 

“Thanks,” she finally managed, shaking herself out of her stupor. 

“Don't mention it. I'm sorry I scared you.” 

The girl, still smiling broadly, pushed her hands against her knees until she stood upright again, holding a hand out for Waverly, who took it hesitantly and then got up a little faster than was healthy, the familiar moment of dizziness immediately blurring her vision. Waverly pressed her eyes shut and her free hand against her temple, trying to fight the burst of pain in her head at the motion. When she opened her eyes again, a worried expression had crept on the face of the other girl. 

“You doing alright there?” the redhead asked, cocking her head. Waverly nodded abruptly. Only then did she realise that she still held on to the redhead's hand and even though it didn't feel bad in hers (in fact, it didn't feel bad _at all_ ), a feeling of awkwardness trickled down her spine and she let go quickly. 

“I seriously feel so bad though for startling you like that. I just saw you standing around, looking a little lost, and I thought I'd come and check. Didn't think _that_ would happen”, she explained, motioning at the floor where not long ago Waverly's money had been rolling around. “And girls don't usually drop at my feet, either.”

Waverly didn't think she could blush even harder, but either she was wrong, or she somehow managed to do the impossible.

“I'm Nicole, by the way. Nicole Haught. Technically working for the casino security team but practically scaring our guests to death.” She tapped against the name plate on her chest and flashed another smile. She wore the same kind of dark green suit that the guy at the entrance had been wearing, but Waverly thought that Nicole looked much better in it than he had.

“Earp. Uh, I mean, Waverly. I'm Waverly. And I'm technically here with my sisters and some friends, but... well, they ditched me. And it's my first time here and I have no idea what I'm doing and... I'm rambling.” Waverly clutched her coin basket even tighter as another wave of embarrassment rolled over her. She absolutely didn't remember being this bad at socialising. 

Nicole didn't seem to mind her rambling though, judging from the smile that only grew wider, showing her dimples a little more prominently. “Pretty sucky of them if you ask me.” She hesitated for a second, shooting a glance at the black watch around her wrist. “Tell you what. I have my break in ten. How about we get drink then, to make up for the mess I've caused? I mean, just if you want to. Don't feel obliged or anything okay?”

Waverly's laugh must have caught her off guard, or at least she looked pretty surprised when it escaped the smaller girl's lips. 

“And here I thought rambling was _my_ thing. But that sounds lovely.” Thinking of what else to say, the youngest Earp realised that a complete stranger had just offered to buy her a drink and was so much sweeter to her than both her sisters and their male friends had been all evening. She managed a thankful smile. It was a good thing Nicole couldn't hear how fast her heart was beating. 

“I should get back to my post now. I'll see you in ten. And you should try Casino War. It's fairly easy and Pat, the girl who's working at the Casino War table tonight, is an absolute sweetheart.” Brushing her hand over Waverly's shoulder, Nicole turned around to stand by the wall, face suddenly stern and a strange air of authority surrounding her. Not that it made her any less attractive. No, Waverly would certainly deny that.

She did follow the redhead's advice thought and tried out Casino War. She was pleasantly surprised at how much she loved the game, even though she lost as much money as she won. Pat was as lovely as Nicole had promised and the ten minutes passed much quicker than Waverly would have thought – before she knew it, Pat was lifting her hand to greet Nicole who was approaching the table, wearing the same beaming smile that only seemed to leave her face when she was working. 

“I can bring you the drink here if you want to keep playing?” she offered, her eyes darting from Waverly to Pat and back, but Waverly shook her head no. 

“It was lovely though,” she thanked Pat as she got up, genuinely happy about her first casino gambling experience. Pulling a ten dollar bill out of her pocket, she handed it to the Casino War dealer. Waverly might not know much about the casino life, but she had gathered that tipping your dealer was the right thing to do and since Pat had been so nice, it felt even more right. 

The bar looked really fancy, shiny silver stools and hundreds of colourful bottles filled with whatever beverage one could think of. On the wall behind the counter, the words “Alea jacta sunt” were carved into a massive plate of cherry wood. As they approached the bar, Waverly side-eyed Nicole, always looking away when the security guard also looked at her. 

“You know you don't have to pay for my drink, right?” she started awkwardly, but was interrupted right away by Nicole's laughter. 

“I know. And I won't.” She laughed again. “The drinks are free here. They assume they take enough of your money without charging you for drinks. And... they do.” The grin she directed at Waverly had something mischievous about it. “But just for the record: Of course I would have payed for your drink.”

There it was again, the blush on Waverly's cheeks. She ordered a Bacardi Cola because that was the first thing that popped into her head. Pressing the glass against her cheek, she turned to Nicole again.

“Am I the only one who thinks it's freaking hot in here?” she mumbled, trying to disguise how she had absolutely no idea how to handle Nicole's compliments. Because she really, really didn't. 

Truth was, her dating history was a little rocky. The last guy she'd dated was this guy Champ. He was pretty daft, to say the least, but she'd really liked him back then. Until he started wondering how she could be pretty and smart at the same time, which was pretty stupid, even for him, and Waverly had finally had enough and ended it. She sometimes felt like that relationship was a good depiction of her entire dating history and to this day, flirting was not really her strong suit. 

Not that she was flirting with Nicole. Of course not.

They sat down on two bar stools. Waverly caught sight of Doc again who nodded in her direction, smiled and then redirected his attention to his brunette companion. 

“So, you often help those who have no clue what they're doing here?” she turned her head back to Nicole who took a sip of her coke before shaking her head, a wide smile on her lips. 

“Only the pretty ones,” she replied, not revealing that Waverly was the first one who'd caught her attention like that and the first casino guest she'd ever talked to (not counting the drunkards who she had to kick out, because who would want to count those?). 

Nicole Haught certainly wasn't shy and flirting was fun, but this was a small town and had a different etiquette from what she was used to. In retrospect, walking up to Waverly and offering her help had been the best thing Nicole had done in all the weeks she'd worked at the casino. Not only was the other girl incredibly pretty, but she also had a good sense of humour and damn, was it fun to make her blush.

Feverishly trying to change the subject and to keep herself from blushing any more, Waverly pointed in the direction of the cherry boards behind the counter. 

“You know, that's actually incorrect. It would either be 'alea jacta _est_ ' or 'ale _ae_ jact _ae_ sunt'.” Furrowing her brow, she tried to figure out how anybody could even write that wrong. Even if people hadn't studied Latin, they should know the saying, right? “That doesn't even make sense! The way it's there, it means “the die _are_ cast”. That's grammatically incorrect. That's-”

Nicole's hand on hers stopped her from getting any more agitated. She took her ancient languages very seriously after all. The tingle going up Waverly's arm at the touch interrupted her train of thought very efficiently and left her looking at the redhead's hand, unable to speak. 

“I'll let them know and they'll change it for sure. They probably got it off eBay or something anyway. I mean, why else would they hang that thing on their wall if it's incorrect?” she laughed and after a moment, Waverly joined in. She could't help but notice how nice their laughs sounded together. 

“Sorry for ranting. I studied Ancient Languages at university.”

Taking a big gulp of her drink, Waverly almost choked on the amount of Bacardi Cola she forced herself to drink. Coughing quietly, she looked at Nicole over the edge of her glass. She found the other girl smiling endearingly, her hand still underneath Nicole's. Normally, Waverly would have pulled away right away – that's how it had been with Champ, when he tried to touch her or hold her hand in public and it just never really felt right – but the sensation of the tingling feeling in her arm that was slowly spreading throughout her body was too amazing to pass up on. 

“That was actually really cute.”

Waverly gave up trying to fight the grin that was tugging at the corners of her mouth. 

“ _Ego sum totaliter stupet balls_ – that's Latin for _'I'm totally amaze-balls'_ ,” she explained proudly, enticing Nicole to shake her head, her eyes glowing and her lips forming the word _dork_ silently. 

Right when Nicole opened her mouth to reply – to agree with Waverly's last statement, probably – somebody kicked against Waverly's stool from behind. She didn't even need to turn to know who it was. 

“Waves, you need to come right now.”

Raising an eyebrow, Waverly let her stool spin around, head cocked questioningly. The motion made her hand slip out from underneath Nicole's, the air cold against it now. She found herself missing the touch immediately. 

“Why, what's up, Wynonna?” she inquired, trying not to think too much about Nicole's hand on hers. Because she wasn't supposed to like it that much, right? _So_ , maybe she liked the girl. Nicole was cool and didn't mind her being an absolute nerd. That made for a great friendship, right? Because they could be great _friends_. Right?

Her sister didn't notice any of that. She merely shot a glance at Nicole, smiling at her for a moment, before turning back to Waverly and tapping on the back of her stool. 

“Bobo and his guys just rolled in, and we're going to take all their money off them in a game of poker. You're in, right?” Wynonna looked so proud of herself. Waverly could feel her face soften. 

“You do know I have no idea how to play, right?” she laughed, but her sister only shook her head. 

“Doesn't matter. You'll learn fast enough. _Come ooooon_.” 

Sighing, Waverly was ready to give in when she remembered Nicole sitting next to her, looking at the sisters' interaction interestedly, sipping her coke quietly. When Waverly looked at her, almost questioningly, Nicole raised her hands and smiled. 

“Don't look at me. You came here to have fun, so go have fun! I need to get back to work anyway.” The last bit was a lie. Her break wouldn't be over for a good ten minutes, but she could sense that Waverly wanted to play and who was she to stand in her way. 

The smile Waverly gave her was as apologetic as it was thankful, but it didn't help the weird, dull feeling of departure that developed in her chest. Nicole put on a smile, but on the inside she was rolling her eyes at herself. She didn't even know this girl so well and she was still being a big old sap. _Ridiculous_ was one of the nicer words she called herself.

“Have fun you guys,” was what she then said out loud, clearing her throat and smiling a little uneasily, putting her empty bottle down on the counter and sliding off her chair. 

“I really need to get back to work now. Thank you for spending my break with me.” 

Even as Nicole walked away, her mind was racing for all the better things she could have said. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw Wynonna drag Waverly through the casino and towards one of the big poker tables where they sat down between a young woman who looked like she wasn't enjoying herself at all and a guy who seemed to be Wynonna's boyfriend, considering he put his arm softly around her shoulder when she sat down. Nicole couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to put her arm around Waverly like that. 

♠♦♣♥

Waverly sat down next to Willa who had some amber drink in her hand and was holding on to the glass very tightly. 

“Having fun?” Waverly asked good-naturedly, smiling at her oldest sister warmly. Willa huffed before returning a thin smile. 

“I'm trying,” Willa replied, shrugging. Waverly gently bumped their shoulders together as a form of silent message, saying that she knew that. She knew that Willa was trying to have fun and that she was tying to be better at interacting and being a good sister. They were all trying.

Around the other half of the table, Bobo and some of his men had taken a seat, laughing and bellowing and shouting cheers to each other as their glasses of whiskey met each other with a clash. 

Wynonna had just enough time to roughly explain the game to Waverly before the first hand was dealt. Doc had joined the group in the very last second and sat on Dolls' other side, his hat pulled down to hide his face. 

Waverly had, once again, no idea what she was doing, but she surprisingly won the first hand. Wynonna nodded at her with the glimmer of pride in her eyes. After that, Waverly didn't really win a lot anymore, mainly because she couldn't keep her attention on the table long enough to think wisely about how she should bet. Her eyes kept flickering up, searching the ones of one certain redhead at the other end of the room. She could have sworn to see Nicole looking at her too. 

A small smile had placed itself on her lips and she couldn't make it disappear again, not even when she kept losing her money after playing the most inefficient of hands. The only one who seemed really upset at how badly Waverly was playing was Willa who turned out to be a fairly aggressive poker player, betting on almost everything and scaring others out of the game by going all-in every so often. The amber liquid in her glass had been replaced by a green vodka and sprite mix which she sipped continuously. Waverly couldn't remember ever having known someone who was as bad at losing as her oldest sister.

Wynonna on the other had was very relaxed about the whole thing. She was constantly stuffing her face with some junk she'd bought in the casino restaurant and not five minutes went by where she didn't make a stupid remark at something that happened in the game or something that Bobo and his guys did. She was surprisingly good at poker, though, playing much better than Waverly would have guessed. Dolls wasn't too bad either, but he played much fewer hands than Wynonna did, his face unreadable. If anybody had perfected the poker face, it was definitely him. And then there was Doc who played literally every hand – and if he wasn't, he was playing with his chips, much to Bobo's and Willa's annoyance. 

All of it looked so very comical to Waverly that she had to grin even more. She didn't even realise it. She also didn't realise when she spaced out completely, looking in Nicole's direction again, this time clearly meeting the security guard's eyes. She could feel getting warm and fuzzy, but the moment ended abruptly when Willa poked her in the side roughly, growling at her to place her bet or leave the table. 

Lifting her hands in a calming manner, Waverly looked at her cards, then at her painfully small pile of chips, shrugged and went all-in. Almost everybody folded, throwing their cards towards the dealer – all but Willa. The oldest Earp called, not shying away from the show-down. 

Waverly played with her hair distractedly as the cards were turned around. It actually looked pretty good for her for the longest time, but in the end, it was still Willa who won, completing her Straight with the River card. 

“Sorry, sis,” Willa said, obviously not too sorry at all, but Waverly just shrugged. She didn't actually mind losing, even though she could think of better ways to invest her money. At least she was free to leave the table now, which was definitely a plus. 

Walking through the casino, Waverly looked at every table, trying to figure out how the games were played, but she inevitably ended up next to Nicole who looked at her with a faint smile. 

“Lost already, huh?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow. 

Waverly rolled her eyes. 

“I told her I was no good,” she laughed, “and at least the money stays in the family, right?”

The wall was cold against her back as Waverly leaned against the wall next to Nicole, shoulders brushing against each other. She could feel the other girl's heat next to her and Waverly fought the urge to take her hand. Goosebumps covered her arms, her entire body and she could sense a certain tension in Nicole as well. 

Looking up at her, Waverly bit her lip uncertainly before taking a deep breath. 

“Can you show me where the restroom is?” she asked, her voice shaky. 

Nicole rested her eyes on Waverly for a moment, studying her, an unreadable expression in her eyes, before nodding slowly. Waverly's anxiety disappeared when the gentle smile on Nicole's lips appeared, dimpling her cheeks. 

The toilets were located in the basement of the huge casino building, a big sign pointing to a glass door, on the other side of which a corridor lead towards the stairs to the toilets.

Waverly's hand was shaky when she opened the door – she could feel Nicole walking close behind her and it made it even harder to focus. The moment the glass door fell back in place behind them, Waverly wrapped her slender fingers around Nicole's wrists and pulled her out of the light that the glass door let into the corridor. Pushing her against the wall, Waverly heard the beat of her heart in her ears, hammering wildly. And then her lips were on Nicole's, tessellating perfectly. Her hands let go of Nicole's wrists and wandered up to her cheeks, feeling the silk of the redhead's hair on her palms. 

When the kiss ended, Waverly blinked several times before stepping back, her fingers running down Nicole's cheeks. 

“I've never done that before,” she mumbled, touching her own lips, then looking back at Nicole who hadn't moved. 

“Lost all your money at poker? One would hope not.”

There was something about the smile that appeared on her lips again that was contagious because despite the confusing feelings that asked to be explained, Waverly found herself smiling, too. 

“I think I want to do it again,” she said, eyes locked on Nicole's lips, which curled into a smile and Waverly could just see how she was about to continue with the running gag of the poker game. Luckily, Waverly was faster and their lips locked again in a much softer kiss than the first one. Nicole's hands found their place at Waverly's hips, holding her close. Her teeth grazed over Nicole's lips and waves of excitement and the same old tingly feeling washed over her as she forgot everything around her. It felt so good, so natural, so easy – Waverly wished it would never have to end. 

And then it ended, much too soon. 

Waverly had her eyes closed but she could feel the change in Nicole's posture as the taller girl tensed and moved to stand upright, pulling her lips from Waverly's. Only then did Waverly hear the loud voices, the shouting and the sounds of chairs being pushed around roughly. Nicole pushed past Waverly with shock-widened eyes, stepping in front of the glass door and looking through it, taking in the scene in the casino room.

“Shit,” she mumbled, toneless. Her hand was already on the door-handle when she stopped in mid-motion and turned back to Waverly, pressing a quick, apologetic kiss on her lips, before rushing back into the main casino room, yelling “Break it up, break it up!”. 

It was one big mess. At first, Waverly had been scared that she wouldn't be able to find her sisters in the chaos that was going on, but then she spotted Wynonna, standing on top of the poker table, shouting something before jumping back down and hurling herself at the next best guy, hitting him square in the face. Waverly sighed. Why did this _always_ have to happen. Always. Every single damn time. This was why most of Purgatory thought her family was weird. 

Nicole was running towards the group of people that were mindlessly trying to hit each other unconscious. One of her coworkers came running from the other side of the room and they exchanged a nod before throwing themselves into the chaos. Nicole got hold of a guys fist right when he was about to land a good punch on Wynonna's back, twisting his arm roughly until he squealed in pain and unclenched his fist. 

“Get lost,” she growled at him. To her surprise, he quickly picked his hat off the floor and ran out the door. Baffled, Nicole looked after him. That had gone _much_ more smoothly than she'd thought it would. 

She then tried to get between an ugly dude and the serious-looking girl that had sat next to Waverly at the poker table. He was so much bigger than her and the fight looked even worse than most of the others, so Nicole made it her top priority. There was a moment of struggling for power as Nicole pushed between the two, trying to get them away from each other. 

She was so focused on the big guy that she only saw the girl's fist soaring through the air when it connected with her own face, vision blurring as she was struggling to stay conscious. She tumbled against the poker table, gripping on tightly, stars flashing in front of her eyes and waves of pain washing over her. Her mind felt like a minefield that somebody had carelessly stepped on and now all the mines were going off. 

She didn't hear the warrior cry Waverly let out at the sight of her getting hit. She didn't see how Waverly ran up to her oldest sister, yanking her away from the big ugly dude, yelling at her with such a fury that Willa couldn't do anything but stare at her, motionless. 

“ _Get your shit together. All of you_ ,” Waverly yelled, her voice breaking in the middle of the sentence. Wynonna shoved the guy she was fighting with away from herself, looking at Waverly. She'd never heard her sister so angry and upset before. Waverly usually smiled at things and just let them all be. To have her erupt like this was unusual, to say the least. And frankly, it was scary as hell. 

“You heard her,” she said after a moment, nodding at all her friends. For a moment it looked like Bobo's guys were going to ignore her and keep on fighting nevertheless, but Bobo himself lifted his hand, gesturing his people to retreat. 

“Another time, Earp,” he glared, first at Willa, then at Wynonna, before turning on his heel and exiting the building, leaving a few broken chairs and a bunch of poker chips all over the floor behind. 

Waverly could hear her sister asking her what was going on and someone else saying that at least they had taken a lot of money off of Bobo and his guys, but the youngest Earp didn't care. With hurried steps, she closed the distance between herself and Nicole who was carefully brushing over the rapidly darkening bruise around her eye with her fingertips, flinching at the touch. 

She looked up slowly as she noticed Waverly approaching. Her pain showed in her eyes, but a weak smile found its way on her lips anyway. 

“Your sister has one hell of a punch,” she mumbled, moving her jaw, probing which movements she better stayed away from for now.

Waverly pulled a face. “I bet. Willa's got some anger issues. I'm sorry you got in the middle of that.”

“It's kind of my job to get in the middle of that, Waves.” She let her hand sink. 

“Well, if it counts for anything, the battle scar you've got there is actually really attractive.” Waverly had lowered her voice but the spark in her eye was enough for Nicole to laugh and shake her head. 

“You're something else, Waverly Earp,” she smiled, hesitating a moment before entwining her fingers with Waverly's. There was some sort of fear in her eyes as she waited for the smaller girl to react. All she could see was Waverly looking down at the hands, not saying anything, but not pulling away, either. She could feel a lump growing in her throat. 

Waverly stared her hand in Nicole's for a while, the tingly feeling reaching every last inch of her body, heart pounding fast in her chest. It was almost cheesy how much she liked the feeling of her hand in Nicole's. She found herself brushing over the back of Nicole's hand with her thumb, distractedly drawing patterns on the soft skin. She didn't notice how Nicole relaxed, leaning against the poker table, a relieved sigh escaping her lungs. 

“Hey. I'm really sorry about your eye,” Willa's quiet voice sounded suddenly. She stepped to the poker table together with the rest of the group, Wynonna and Dolls side by side as usual, Doc a step behind them. Nicole just waved her hand airily. 

“No big deal. I hear chicks dig battle scars,” she grinned, throwing a quick glance at Waverly who blushed again. The youngest Earp could feel Doc's eyes on her and she could have sword to hear him chuckle. Willa'd raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. She nodded in Nicole's direction curtly, appreciating getting let off the hook so easily, and forced a smile on her face, trying to do what was right and expected of her. Waverly let go of Nicole's hand for a second in order to squeeze Willa's, showing her that her efforts were noticed and valued. 

“We should probably get out of here,” Wynonna said, looking around. People were clearing out anyway and considering the scene they'd caused, it was probably better for them to leave. 

“I think I'm going to stay and help a bit,” Waverly suddenly blurted out, blushing even harder at the intensity with which her words had left her lips. She could hear Willa murmur a 'yeah sure, _help_ ' but when she looked at her sister she could see a faint smile on her lips and something told her that Willa was actually happy for her. Wynonna beamed at her and nodded enthusiastically. 

“I'm so glad you made a new friend, Waverly. At least this night was good for something, huh.” 

Waverly furrowed her brow and cocked her head in disbelief, knowing very well how she'd just held Nicole's hand not long ago and how the redhead had made a remark that implied not subtly at all that their relationship went beyond _friends_ by now, but she chose to ignore it. 

“Sure, Wynonna,” she laughed, shaking her head slightly. 

They said their good-byes quickly, Doc giving Waverly a good-natured wink before following Willa, Waverly and Dolls. As the group neared the exit, Waverly could suddenly hear Wynonna's voice over the music that was still playing. 

“What do you mean, ' _friends_ ' isn't the right word?” she asked, turning around abruptly to look back at Nicole and Waverly who just leaned in for another kiss. 

“Oh,” she mumbled, dumbstruck, boxing her boyfriend in the side. “And you all knew?”

Waverly's face stopped inches from Nicole's as she started laughing, partly out of happiness that she got to kiss this girl again, partly because Wynonna was just too much sometimes. 

“Welcome to my crazy family,” she huffed right before she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against Nicole's. 

♠♦♣♥

Cleaning the mess her friends and Bobo's group had caused didn't take them as long as Waverly had expected. They replaced the chairs (of which there were many more stacked in some backroom, where Nicole stole another kiss from her) and picked up the chips that were still on the floor. 

“Thanks for helping,” Nicole said as they turned all the chips back in and the last of the chairs had been replaced. Waverly caught herself staring at her lips again. 

“So, what now?” she asked distractedly as the redhead's lips curled into a smile and the dimples that Waverly had grown quite affectionate of showed again. 

“How about I get changed and we'll go somewhere where I can _actually_ pay for your drink?”

“Is it okay too if I get a milkshake?”

“That's more than okay,” Nicole laughed before taking Waverly's face in her hands and kissing her again, slowly and carefully as if scared to hurt this little dork that apparently liked to kiss her back. 

♠♦♣♥

Reaching around Waverly gently, Nicole opened the door to the passenger seat of her car and let the smaller girl sit down before walking around to the driver's side. 

“I think I like casinos,” Waverly mused, entwining her fingers once again with Nicole's who chuckled and turned the engine on. The radio came to life right when they pulled out of the parking lot and took the road back into Purgatory. Waverly smiled, overjoyed, still holding Nicole's hand as they were driving. After a while, she found herself humming along to the song on the radio. Something told her that this could be the beginning of something really, really good.

♠♦♣♥

_With wheels on the pavement,_  
We’re feeling so grand,  
Lose a little skin, get up and do it again.

_Head up in the clouds,_  
And our toes in the sand,  
Lose a little skin, get up and do it again. 

_Hangin’ on the outside,_  
It’s so much more fun,  
We don’t need our heads cuz our bodies are young. 

__  



End file.
